The present invention relates to blower-vacuum devices, commonly referred to as blowervacs, which are typically used for collecting garden waste, such as leaves, grass cuttings and twigs.
Blowervacs have both vacuum and blower modes of operation and generally comprise a motor having an output shaft connected to an impeller. The impeller is enclosed within a volute or scroll housing and is configured to draw air in along its axis of rotation through an inlet and expel air out tangentially from an outlet when the impeller is driven by the motor. In the blowing mode of operation, clean air is drawn axially into the scroll housing from the atmosphere and a blower tube is attached to the outlet in order to concentrate and direct the expelled air into a jet. In the vacuuming mode, waste is most commonly drawn in through the inlet via a vacuum tube, and an air-porous receptable is attached directly to the outlet from the scroll housing, so that the impeller comminutes the waste.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,644,606 describes a blowervac with a main handle integral with the impeller housing and comprising first and sections acutely inclined to one another, the first section having an axis generally parallel to the axis of the air outlet. When the first section of the handle is gripped by an operator the device will be in the vacuum mode with the air outlet in a generally horizontal position. When the second section of the handle is gripped, the device will be in the blower mode with the air outlet facing ahead of the operator at a downward angle. Owing to this arrangement, for satisfactory ergonomic performance, particularly when raising and lowering the vacuum tube in use, a secondary handle must also be provided to allow the user to apply the requisite torque to the device. Thus, while single-handed blowing operation is possible, but both hands are required for a vacuum operation. It is an object of the present invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate the above disadvantages or, more generally, to provide an improved blower/vacuum device.